The present invention relates to an improved grip assembly for golf clubs and other sporting equipment employing handles subject to shock when such devices are impacted.
It is well known that the shock generated by impact between a golf club and a golf ball can adversely effect muscle tissue and arm joints. The energy generated by such impact is usually of high frequency and short duration with rapid decay and which is often known as xe2x80x9cimpact shock.xe2x80x9d Tight grasping of a golf club grip to keep it from slipping in a users hands contributes to such impact shock.
Applicant has previously developed resilient grips which successfully reduce or even eliminate impact shock to the muscle and arm joint of the users of golf clubs. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813, granted to applicant Aug. 25, 1998. Such earlier grips utilize a polyurethane layer bonded to a felt layer to define a resilient strip, which is spirally wrapped around an underlisting sleeve, with such underlisting sleeve being slipped over the handle portion of a golf club shaft. After the underlisting sleeve has been properly positioned upon the golf club shaft, a synthetic plastic ferrule such as designated 56 in FIG. 18 of my U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,329 secures the grip in place on the handle of the golf club shaft. Alternatively, the lower end of the resilient strip may be secured to the lower end of the underlisting sleeve by a length of finishing tape. Installation of a ferrule is labor intensive, while the use of finishing tape does not provide a high quality commercial image.
The golf club grip assembly of my present invention eliminates the disadvantages of the afore mentioned synthetic plastic ferrule, or the use of finishing tape between the lower end of the grip and the handle of a golf club shaft, and particularly a putter.